The present invention relates generally to laminated printed circuit chips such as capacitor chips, and is particularly concerned with a method and apparatus for making such chips incorporating terminations at the side edges of the chips.
Currently, laminated printed circuit chips are made by laminating together several layers of ceramic on which circuit patterns are printed into a stack, and then cutting the stack into individual chips according to the selected chip size. The cutting process will leave cut conductor ends on the side edges of each chip, and the cut ends are terminated by dipping the edges into a plating bath. This procedure is relatively simple for large size chips, but for small chips it is difficult to perform and very expensive. It also results in small bumps projecting from the sides of the chip. The smallest capacitor chips may have an area as small as 0.040 inches by 0.020 inches (which is referred to as an 0402 chip size), and it is extremely difficult to provide multiple terminations on the side edges of a chip this small using the known dipping process.